Notre Dame basketball: Irish will count on steady Peoples

Tribune Photo/GENE KAISER

Tribune Photo/GENE KAISER

November 15, 2009|By TOM NOIE Tribune Staff Writer

He was a freshman feeling his way through college basketball who watched a former Notre Dame guard live a dream senior season. Seldom needed on the 2006-07 squad that won 24 games and finished 11-5 in the Big East, Jonathan Peoples watched Russell Carter close his career in fine fashion. Lightly-recruited and also a bit player as an underclassman, Carter's work earned him consideration for most improved player in the Big East in a senior year that landed him on the first team all-league squad. Earlier this week, as Peoples was set to embark on his last season, one where the Irish seniors could leave as the most successful class in school history, coach Mike Brey approached his tri-captain with a question. “I said, ‘Why can't you have a senior year like Russell Carter?'” Brey said after watching Peoples get 11 points, three assists and three rebounds in a career-high 30 minutes in Saturday's season opener against North Florida. “Why can't he be a most-improved candidate in this league? “We've not had a guy with a better feel for the game.” For only the second time in his career, the 6-foot-3 Peoples starts consecutive games Monday when Notre Dame (1-0) hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) at Purcell Pavilion (7:30 p.m., No TV). Peoples' college career arc is similar to Carter's, though the personalities could not be more opposite. Carter was abrasive, moody and a talker who wore his feelings on his sleeve for all to see. Peoples is quiet, steady and unassuming. He doesn't seem to crave or covet extra attention. Neither played big roles as freshmen. They were needed in spurts as sophomores. Each showed flashes of what they could do as juniors. Carter then delivered as a senior. Peoples, who was voted the team's most improved player last season, now has his chance. Don't sleep on him, said classmate Tory Jackson. “He's going to get better and come non-stop,” Jackson said. “Every second on the floor, he's going to give us something big. “The things he can do are huge for us.” Other Irish past and present have played in better ways than Peoples, who doesn't do anything spectacularly but does a whole lot really well. All the while, he remains his calm, cool and collected self. Nothing ever seems to faze him on the floor. Turn it over? Just be better. Miss a shot? Make it next time. Late on a defensive assignment? Be on time and buckle down. He just….plays. Even this season, his first as a starter and his only one to make a lasting impression, Peoples brushes aside any notion that there are growing pains involved in evolving from someone who is a career 2.9 ppg., scorer to someone who is expected to do something big every night. He could be one of the differences between a trip back to the NCAA tournament and a sour senior season. Doesn't all that bring about some sort of an adjustment period? “Nah, not really,” Peoples said after Saturday's game. “I think my role is just to go out there and play good defense and knock down shots. “When I have that confidence, I just keep it going.” But how does someone now expected to do much more corner that confidence? A big part of it started in the summer, when the Bellwood, Ill., native dropped 10 pounds and arrived for preseason camp in the best shape of his career. Part of it comes from being in the main mix at practice. Part of it is making open 3-pointers off ball reversal, getting a key steal or making the extra pass, all Peoples trademarks. Part of it also stems from getting the occasional hand to the backside. Seriously. “Teammates just smack me on the butt and say, ‘Good job Peeps,'” he said of how he knows he belongs. “I'm going to make some mistakes, but you move on to the next play and keep confident.” Download the FREE Irish Sports Report iPhone & iPod App